Our last full day in the Galapagos! This week went by extremely fast, but at the same time it feels like we’ve been on the boat for weeks. Maybe it’s because we spend most of our time on boats… Anyway, we spent the morning on San Cristobal Island where we went for a nice hike along a rocky and relatively steep trail and eventually found ourselves at a lookout point with a great view of the beach below and the Endeavour anchored just off shore. When we first landed on the beach we were greeted by several male sea lions who had no interest in us and were content playing in the waves or rolling in the sand to ward off buzzing flies.

From the lookout point, we continued on down to the trail to a flatter and more open part of the island. Behind us were tall jagged cliffs that made up the remains of a volcano and all around us we could see the blue ocean. In addition to its beauty, San Cristobal Island is also well known for its colony of nesting red footed boobies. I’ve seen blue-footed boobies, brown-footed boobies, and Nazca boobies, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen red-footed boobies. And guess what? Their feet are red! We saw several of them sitting on their nests made out of twigs and grass and one even had a baby chick it was sheltering beneath her wings. Others were perched on the cliff walls along with Nazca boobies and frigate birds.

Back at the beach we had some time for swimming and sunbathing before returning to the ship for lunch. Then around 3:00 we had our final snorkeling outing at a barren rock island called Leon Dormido. The island is the only remaining evidence of an ancient volcano that erupted thousands of years ago. As always, we snorkeled from the Zodiacs, staying close to the walls of the island and diving down to see what we could see, since there was no bottom in sight. The walls were incredible. They reminded me of miniature apartment complexes because there were small pockets carved out of the coral and in each pocket lived a different creature. Some had sea urchins, others were inhabited by fish, barnacles, and sea stars. But the highlight of the snorkel was a narrow channel between the larger rock island and another smaller piece that at some point had broken off. In this channel we were pretty much surrounded by sharks. It was eerie, a little bit frightening, and absolutely incredible all at the same time. Watching the sharks emerge from the blue waters in front of us and lazily swim beneath our floating bodies is something I’ll never forget. We mainly saw Galapagos sharks, but we also caught sight of several hammerheads as well. Once through the channel, we continued on around the island. There were so many green sea turtles that I wish I had kept count, but I would guess that we saw at least 30. At one point, while trying to swim around a corner, the current was so strong that I had to swim as hard as I could and it didn’t feel like I was gaining any ground. We made it though, and our Zodiac picked us up almost at the same place where we had started. All of us were so excited about the sharks that our Zodiac driver dropped us off at the channel again so we could swim though one last time. It was just as amazing as the first pass through! It was a great way to end the trip.

It was a pretty mellow last evening on board. The captain took the ship around Leon Dormido while the sun set and C and I relaxed out on deck, enjoying the cool air and nice breeze. After dinner it was time to pack and tomorrow we say goodbye to the Galapagos!